The Sunderland selection decision that I think Régis Le Bris has to stick with for West Brom and Norwich

When a spell on the sidelines for Dennis Cirkin was confirmed last week, Régis Le Bris had a decision to make.

With Leo Hjelde also sidelined for Millwall's visit, the conventional choice would have been to go for a natural defender at left back in either Joe Anderson or Oli Bainbridge. Bainbridge has a big future ahead of him and may well get some minutes in the weeks ahead, but putting him into a Championship game from the start would be a big ask. Anderson, meanwhile, has impressed Le Bris with his application behind the scenes this season but would have left to join a League One club in January unless he himself had opted against the move. So Le Bris went for something a bit more unusual, Alan Browne joining a long line of Sunderland central midfielders converted into full backs either temporarily or for the long haul.

The first thing to say is that this wasn't a totally random decision, or one that would have that have been seen as hugely bizarre at the start of the season behind the scenes at least. Browne does have experience in right-sided defensive positions, albeit more as a wing back than an orthodox full back. But his versatility was part of the reason why Sunderland signed him on a free last summer, as well of course because of his vast Championship experience in an otherwise young squad. It's also part of the reason why Sunderland took the high-risk decision not to sign additional full-back cover in January despite Aji Alese's season-ending injury. Their fear was in disrupting the harmony of a defensive unit where competition for places is already fierce when everyone is fit.

Browne impressed with a solid performance against Millwall, with fellow defender Chris Mepham going as far as to name him as the team's best player on the day.

Why I would keep Alan Browne at right back for West Brom and Norwich City trips

Le Bris is likely to have the option of bringing Leo Hjelde straight back into the XI on Saturday, allowing Trai Hume to move back over to his favoured right back position. I'd be tempted to continue with the Browne experiment a little longer, however, for a number of reasons.

It's no slight on Hjelde whatsoever, who has proved himself a very able defender when called upon this season. Certainly at left back, however, we and the head coach have a good sense of what he can offer and what his main strengths and weaknesses are. With Cirkin out for a few weeks more and fixtures piling up, he'll undoubtedly get chances to top up his match sharpness and possibly even in his preferred central defensive position.

With Browne, there is the opportunity to discover a potentially very valuable new option for the final stages of the campaign and a play-off campaign. In theory, there's absolutely no reason why can't make a success of the position. He's comfortable in possession, has a real good engine to get up and down the pitch, while his combative nature in midfield means he's unlikely to get found out when it comes to 1-v-1 duels. He would also add some very welcome experience to

There's no doubt that in an ideal world Le Bris is able to name Hume and Cirkin as his full backs when the seemingly inevitable play-off campaign comes around. Maybe Browne won't be the answer, and the extra quality of West Brom and Norwich City will show why it's not a viable option going forward. But the only way to find out is to give it a little longer and the worst-case scenario is that Browne gets more opportunities to build his match fitness, making him a stronger contender in midfield for the run-in. Given Sunderland's position in the table, I struggle to see the downside of giving the experiment another couple of games.

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